Late surge leads Hawks past Falcons

By Jacob Marrocco
Posted 3/8/16

The Bishop Hendricken hockey team was ahead 2-1 against Cranston Co-op on senior night with 10 minutes to go, needing the win to guarantee a top-2 seed in the Cimini playoffs after losing three of …

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Late surge leads Hawks past Falcons

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The Bishop Hendricken hockey team was ahead 2-1 against Cranston Co-op on senior night with 10 minutes to go, needing the win to guarantee a top-2 seed in the Cimini playoffs after losing three of its last four.

The Hawks pulled it out, scoring twice in the last three minutes for a 4-1 victory over the Falcons. Hendricken finished the regular season with 24 points and a record of 11-5-1-1. The top three teams in Cimini, which also included No. 1 Mount Saint Charles and No. 3 La Salle, finished within two points of one another.

“It’s a good question,” Hendricken head coach Jim Creamer said about how his team is feeling heading into the postseason. “We should be confident. Our league is so balanced, there are no easy nights in our league. You get to the end of the year and to either finish in first or second is a good testament after the strength of our league this year. They should feel confident about it. Four wins away from a state championship.”

Fittingly, senior captain Reilly Miller helped lead the way for Hendricken with three points on one goal and two assists. Junior Pat Creamer added three points of his own, coming on two goals and a helper.

“It was a lot of pressure, especially it being our senior night,” Miller said. “It was a weird game at first, but we came out in the second half and really turned it up as a team.”

Hendricken had a comfortable 2-0 early in the third period Saturday night after Pat Creamer gave the Hawks some insurance when he got a shot under Cranston goaltender D.J. DeAngelis.

Both teams made switches between the pipes during the third period. Cranston substituted Andrew Phillips for DeAngelis after the second goal, while Hendricken went with usual starter Wyatt Alberigo after two periods with Joseph Palmer in net.

The Falcons didn’t give Alberigo a warm welcome early on, either. With the Hawks on the power play, Cranston’s Austin Alzate intercepted a pass just inside the blue line and coasted down the ice for a 1-on-1 with Alberigo, beating him over his left shoulder to cut the deficit in half five minutes into the period.

The Falcons came close to knotting the score halfway through the third despite playing without injured forward Jaycob Hargreaves. Hendricken’s Michael Shaw was tagged for holding, and 38 seconds later Miller was called for slashing. The Hawks were forced to hold off the 5-on-3 for 1:22 and succeeded in limiting the scoring opportunities.

The best chance for the Falcons came on a developing 4-on-1, but they were called offsides. After the first penalty was killed, Pat Creamer came up with a diving block to stop the Falcons’ last real opportunity with the man advantage.

The Hawks had trouble beating Phillips for about his first 10 minutes in the blue paint, but they figured him out late to put the game away. Senior Brandon Waterman gave Hendricken a cushion with 2:34 to go when he skated in front of the net from the right circle and put a low shot behind Phillips.

“In high school, you’re only as good as your senior class,” Jim Creamer said. “And we’re very fortunate, we got a great, great senior class. Seven great kids, great athletes, great team guys. They’re good Hendricken men. I consider myself fortunate to be surrounded by them.”

Creamer followed suit 24 seconds later when he ripped a shot from the right circle top shelf past Phillips to effectively ice the win.

The only other tally on the night for the Hawks came midway through the first period when Miller got a piece of Matthew Rickard’s shot as it went towards the net. Creamer was also credited with an assist on Miller’s goal.

Outside of Palmer, Alberigo, Miller and Waterman, the Hawks also honored captain Clayton Audet.

The Hawks finished the season on a positive note and will have home-ice advantage for the semifinals, but their opponent hasn’t been a welcomed sight recently. Hendricken will get No. 3 La Salle (11-6-0-1), which has beaten the Hawks in their last two meetings by scores of 4-3 and 3-0.

“We had a tough loss against La Salle the other night, except we’re gonna come back strong,” Miller said. “We don’t feel like anyone can beat us in a three-game series.”

Hendricken faired better against the Rams in their first two meetings between late December and early January, which the Hawks won 2-1 (OT) and 5-1.

As of press time, the time and day of the first game of the series has yet to be announced.

The Falcons (1-15) will oppose Smithfield for a play-in series to decide the fourth seed in the Cimini playoffs. The Falcons dropped their first three contests of the year to the Sentinels before beating them in Cranston on Friday, 2-1. The winner gets No. 1 Mount Saint Charles (12-5-0-1) in the semifinals.

Hargreaves is due back to action soon, but the Falcons have played through numerous injuries all season. Falcons’ coach Michael Boyajian said that with everyone healthy, “we can play with anyone 5-on-5.”

“They’re a solid team, Smithfield’s a well-coached team,” Boyajian said. “We’re confident enough to, as long as we stay healthy, go out there and play our game. As long as we make smart decisions with the puck and without the puck and hopefully play well defensively all-around and stay solid in the nets. We feel we have a good opportunity to capitalize on it. We feel we’re going in the right direction.”

Note: this story was edited to clarify that Cranston will play Smithfield in a play-in series, not one game.

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